University of Missouri
SEC Championships
Schweizer and Jacobs Wins SEC Titles at SEC Outdoor Championships
5/13/2018 10:43:00 PM | Track & Field
Schweizer and Jacobs each repeat as champions, Mizzou records nine scoring finishes on the final day of competition
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Mizzou Track & Field senior Karissa Schweizer (Urbandale, Iowa) and redshirt junior Gabi Jacobs (Bloomington, Ill.) each captured conference titles on the final day of competition at the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships Sunday in Knoxville, Tenn. Each repeated as SEC Champions for the second year in-a-row, as Schweizer won the 5000m run and Jacobs the discus.
With Schweizer's win in the 5000m run, Mizzou swept the 5K and 10K SEC titles in back-to-back seasons, after redshirt junior Jamie Kempfer (Festus, Mo.) won the 2017 SEC 10K and redshirt senior Megan Cunningham (Euerka, Mo.) won this year's 10K on Friday. Mizzou is the first team to sweep the women's 5K/10K in consecutive seasons since Arkansas did so in 2014 and 2015.
In addition to Schweizer and Jacobs' conference titles, Mizzou had seven other top-eight finishes on the day, including a runner-up finish in the 1500m run from Schweizer and a fifth-place finish in the 800m run from freshman Chris Conrad (O'Fallon, Ill.).
TEAM SCORES
In the team's race, the Mizzou women finished 10th with 53 points, while the men's team finished 13th with 13 points. The Mizzou's women's 53-point total is the second-most points they have scored at an SEC Outdoor meet, only trailing the 62 points scored at the 2014 meet.
NOTABLE TIGERS
Just a few hours after finishing second in the 1500m run, Schweizer dominated the 5000m run, as she was the only runner who finished under 16 minutes at 15:58.14. A few runners stayed with Schweizer through the first 3000 meters, but Schweizer pulled away from the pack over the final mile as she finished 17 seconds ahead of runner-up Jessica Drop (Georgia), who crossed the finish line at 16:15.30. Schweizer will end her career with eight conference titles, as she previously won the 2016 Cross Country, 2017 Indoor Mile Run, 2017 Indoor 3000m Run, 2017 Outdoor 5000m Run, 2017 Cross Country, 2018 Indoor 3000m Run and 2018 Indoor Distance Medley Relay. Schweizer's eight conference titles rank second in women's program history behind only Sabrina Dornhoefer's nine conference titles.
Jacobs repeated as discus champion in exciting fashion, as she clinched the title in her final throw with a toss of 55.92m (183-5). Jacobs led the pack after the preliminary three throws with a mark of 54.75m (179-7), but sat in third place before her final throw, which netted her a second consecutive discus title. Coupled with yesterday's seventh-place finish in the shot put, Jacobs scored 12 points overall at the meet.
Making his SEC Outdoor debut, Conrad closed in impressive fashion in the men's 800m run, as he elevated himself from eighth-place to fifth-place after a strong bell lap. Conrad crossed the finish line with a season-best time of 1:48.68, and more than likely qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary meet with his run, as his time currently ranks in the top-30 in the region.
In his final SEC Outdoor meet, redshirt senior Jerrad Mason (Bridgetown, Barbados) ran a gusty race in the 400m hurdles, as he finished sixth with a season-best time of 51.28. The sixth-place finish is Mason's highest finish at an SEC meet. Mason improved his season-best time in the event by more 0.41 seconds over the weekend, as he entered the meet with a time of 51.69 at the Drake Relays (April 28), then ran a 51.31 in the prelims on Friday, and 51.28 in the finals.
In the women's 1500m run, Mizzou finished second and sixth and scored 11 points. Schweizer had the lead for the majority of the race before finishing second at 4:19.98, while redshirt senior Valeska Halamicek (Weldon Spring, Mo.) finished sixth at 4:27.11. The runner-up finished for Schweizer marked the second year in-a-row she has finished second in the 1500m run. Halamicek returned to the track a few hours later, as she posted an eighth-place finish in the 800m run, crossing the finish line at 2:15.94.
A pair of Tigers scored in the women's high jump, as junior Valeria Kostiuk (Kiev, Ukraine) finished sixth for three points and junior Karissa Roman (Kewaukee, Ill.) finished eighth for one point. Kostiuk set a season-best in her jump, as she cleared 1.75m (5-8.75), while Roman cleared 1.70m (5-7). Both Tigers have a season-best mark of 1.75m (5-8.75), and will wait to see if the mark will be enough to qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary.
QUOTABLES
Mizzou Head Coach Brett Halter
On his thoughts on the meet…
"I thought we had an extraordinary meet and I think we hit all of our targets. The challenge of track & field is to be able to come in and deliver what you're capable of delivering, and our athletes did that and more. They really showed up. The effort and integrity of this group was remarkable. Our staff is really proud of everything our team accomplished. Points are extremely hard to come by at this meet, and we had a lot of athletes get on the board. Obviously, Karissa, Gabi and Megan showed up in a big way becoming SEC Champions.
Mizzou senior Karissa Schweizer (Interview with SEC Network after race)
On the weather being a factor in the race…
"It was very difficult. Just being able to double back really gives me a lot of confidence going into nationals and preparing to double there."
On what goes into the decision on which events to run at NCAAs…
"(We will) base it off conference performance and my training right now. Obviously I like the 1500 a lot, and it is a lot less laps."
UP NEXT
Mizzou will now move to the NCAA West Preliminary meet, which will be held May 24-26 in Sacramento, Calif., with the NCAA field being announced later this week. The top-48 accepted entries in individual events, and the top-24 in relay events will qualify for the regional meet. The top-24 accepted entries in multi-events will advance straight to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore.
For all the latest on Mizzou Track & Field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MIZ_TrackField).
RESULTS - TRACK EVENTS
800m Run, Men – 5. Chris Conrad, 1:48.68 (4 points)
800m Run, Women – 8. Valeska Halamicek, 2:15.94 (1 point)
1500m Run, Men – 16. Zach Cook, 3:55.76 // 18. Marc Dubrick, 4:02.57
1500m Run, Women – 2. Karissa Schweizer, 4:19.98 (8 points) // 6. Valeska Halamicek, 4:27.11 (3 points)
5000m Run, Women – 1. Karissa Schweizer, 15:58.14 (10 points) // 22. Jordyn Kleve, 17:23.36
400m Hurdles, Men – 6. Jerrad Mason 51.28 (3 points)
RESULTS - FIELD EVENTS
High Jump, Men – 11. Landon Cuskelly, 2.16m (7-1)
High Jump, Women – 6. Valeria Kostiuk, 1.75m (5-8.75) (3 points) // 8. Karissa Roman, 1.70m (5-7) (1 point)
Discus, Men – 18. Will Fife, 49.96m (163-11), 49.96m (163-11)
Discus, Women – 1. Gabi Jacobs, 55.92m (183-5) (10 points)
Players Mentioned
